Characterization of the dielectric and pyroelectric properties of ferroelectric material

Ferroelectrics are suitable for the realization of sensors because their characteristics depend on modifying quantities such as temperature, electric fields, and pressure. The dependence of the dielectric and pyroelectric constant of ferroelectric materials on temperature is large and close to the Curie temperature, and this behavior can be exploited for the realization of capacitive sensors with high sensitivity in such a range of temperature. In this paper, a convenient solution for the investigation of the dielectric and pyroelectric coefficients of a ferroelectric device is discussed, along with a characterization tool developed to measure them. The architecture adopted was developed to study the aforementioned material properties up to the Curie temperature. A general-purpose data acquisition card and instruments usually available in research and educational laboratories were used, thus guaranteeing the low-cost feature, easy reproducibility, and flexibility.